St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-05-28

COVINGTON ST. TAMMANY PARISH La,

4
the elevator man. He dries up in Lit
tie while. He has to. He receives NJ
encouragement to give his views OF
matters and things. nobody asks for hi
opinion. nobody is concerned about him
and he is made to feel this every minut.
in the day. One signal proof Of thi.
you will find in the effect the busines.
has on members Of the colored race
You know it's natural with them to b,
enusively gracious and benignant
Well. put q colored man running ar
elevator and his whole disposition i.
changed. He becomes sour. cranky.
He loses all his native politeness. should
ne ever have any. and instead Of friend.
who might aid him. will make enemies.
My observation is that elevator men ap.
pear different from other people be-
cause they are not treated like other
people"
The views of this young attorney were
impaired to one Of the class he spoke
about, q man Of great deliberatiOn and
as stolid in look and manner as any
other man in the business. Some effort
was needed to get from him an expires.
sion OF opinion, but once started he had
lots to say. "Yes, SIR" he went on,
running an elevator does tend to make
man hold his tongue Medical men
know this well. I'll give you an in.
stance. The man who runs the elevator
on the other side Of the street. the build.
ing just across the way, is barber BY
trade. When he came to Chicago he
had no trouble getting a first-class job.
He worked in a nice shop down town,
but in few days he was discharged.
He got work in another shop and was
discharged again. He was a country
., 'r~ though good one. but he was
an awfu. ~. This habit he acquired
in the country. xh,. .e he learned his
trade. and whenever he cam. to shave
man he thought he'd have to "a,
something. In fact, he couldn't help
himself. That barber would talk about
the weather all day. Itwas all habit,
but the customers didn't like it. They
complained to The boss. the boss would
demonstrate with the barber, but he
always forgot himself and kept on talk.
ing. until at last he'd have to be dis.
charged. After awhile he got to be SC
well known that no barber would give
him steady work. They said to him
You talk too much. Talking to Gus.
toners has gone out of fashion. Break
yourself of the habit He couldn't.
He tried and tried; then . friend told
him to 60 to a doctor.
The doctor told him what TO do in
. minute. He said: Get Job run
ming an elevator; that's the only thing
that will cure you of talking And il
did. In two months that barber used
to work the elevator all day without
saying a word He never saws any
thing now unless first spoken to. then
he answers as briefly as any man can"
From other sources it was learned
that many rare virtues are required Of
the holder Of this exacting position.
He must be sober. wa.chful. and Weld
obedience to ins;ruc-
tions. He must know the name Of
every tenant in the building. the floor
his Office is on and its number, the Of.
fice hours of all. and. as very often thev
two hundred and over. it re.
quires = pretty good memory to keep
track of every thing. Then. too. he is
expected to tell whether Mr.. So-and-
So came up on the elevator this
or ''has he returned from
lunch yet?' or. If tenant has
changed his Office. to give his questiOner
the address. All these questions are
put him hundreds of times during the
day. and hundreds Of more times he is
kept busy answering the little register
bell in his cab. He must remember
what Office is wanted by those not ia
miliar with the building and not fail to
stop the elevator for the ladies who
want to get out at certain floor and
who forget all about what they want.
once they commence talking with each
other. When that numerous person.
the professional funny man. can get no
one to listen to his stories it is the duty |
Df the elevator man to hear him meekly,
then trust to his intuition to laugh in
the right place. In his lexicon Of daily !
lse there is no such word rs .'chest-
nuts" II there was he wouldn't use it. |
t would tend only to foster argument,
md he leaves argument to others. The
'ilence that is golden is the elevator
mans. He may be taciturn but an
lnruly tongue never gets him into